Chapter 258 6.6 Dragon Slayer Crossbow

Watching the butcher who massacred tens of thousands of people in Mercia last year dancing and making an impassioned speech, Elizabeth tried to hold back the gastric juice churning in her abdomen.

As a neighboring country, she did not like Wessex, and even more so, she looked down on the king of Wessex, "Ecbert".

When the Vikings were poisoning Mercia last year, the dragon of Wessex was clearly in Maple Leaf Valley, a hundred kilometers away, but this group of hypocritical comrades did not have any intention of sending troops to support.

Although Elizabeth was straightforward, she was not stupid.

She knew that for Ecbert, the Vikings were far away, and Mercia was the enemy that was close at hand.

As long as the Vikings consumed Mercia's national strength, it would only make money for Wessex.

When he finished this impassioned speech, his uncle with a crippled left leg actually took the lead in applauding, and Elizabeth wanted to get angry again.

But the father beside him once again held her hand.

"My daughter, I know you are unwilling. But for now, we can only focus on the overall situation."

"Look at the children who have lost their loved ones in the orphanage, and think about the thousands of acres of uncultivated fertile land outside the city."

"If the Vikings set foot on our land again this year, even if we drive these bandits into the sea, many of our people will die."

"I know you hate this arrogant executioner, but for now, supporting him and letting the Vikings fall into civil war is better than killing him, so that his subordinates will defect to the Vikings and continue to slaughter our subjects."

"What Ecbert said, 'There is no eternal hatred between countries', is exactly what he meant."

Looking at her father's eyes flashing with wisdom, the Princess of Mercia gently loosened her clenched fists.

Living with civilians all day long, she knows that what the people of Mercia need is to live and work in peace and contentment.

If you can keep the enemy thousands of miles away, any hatred is worth putting aside first.

When the enthusiastic applause gradually faded, Mr. Hummel drank the red wine in his hand. He patted Prince Lancelot's shoulder and sat down beside him.

The two were like close old friends who had not seen each other for many years.

Seeing this scene, Ecbert stood up again and began to arrange the defense strategy for this spring.

"Only the Vikings know their compatriots best!! Through my communication with Brother Hummel in recent months, I think the focus of resisting Viking invasion should still be on the ocean!"

"Last fall, we used the 'ramming ship' to defend the O'Sullivan family on the sea and achieved unprecedented success. Their thin and fragile longships are not worth mentioning in naval battles!

Nearly 100 longships and more than 3,000 reinforcements were burned to ashes by the dragon of Wessex in less than a morning! Therefore, the focus of defense this year is still on the sea.

Among the seven countries of England, the country with the strongest navy is only our Mercia! So the main force of defense this time is still you.

I want to ask, how many warships does the Mercian Navy have now?"

There has never been a relationship of subordination and monarch-subject relationship between the kings of the seven countries. The status of the heads of state present is equal, so Elizabeth does not like Ecbert's almost commanding tone very much.

But the Mercian King "Ulysses Elan" beside her does not care.

"There are nearly 40 ships left, respected King Wessex."

"40 ships? How come there are only 40 ships left?"

"You old man knew that the Vikings might invade again this spring. Why didn't you build more ships during the long 6 months of winter?"

"With only 40 warships, how can we defend against the beast-like Vikings on the sea?!"

Hearing this, Elizabeth's anger that had accumulated for a whole morning could no longer be suppressed. The girl could feel that her father was pulling her hand hard at this time. But since the meeting was going on, no one could stop her.

"Why?!"

The angry girl looked at the huge Ella III beside her with bloodshot eyes.

If the words just now were said by King Ecbert of Wessex, the richest of the seven countries, she might be able to suppress her anger. After all, in last year's invasion, the Kingdom of Wessex lost 2 dragons and 3 dragon knights. Such combat power is also a considerable wealth in the Western Continent.

The girl could not stand the fact that the old man, Ayler III of Northumbria, who had only sent out a few dozen "Churchirs", dared to boss his father around here.

"Why must the task of fighting the Vikings fall on Mercia? Why must our country pay so much for your safety? You have never given us any gold coins, and you have never supported any workers. Why should we build ships day and night to protect you, a bunch of bastards who don't know what gratitude is?!"

The girl's questioning not only did not attract the attention of the kings, but also caused a burst of laughter. Among them, the fat King of Northumbria, "Ayler III", laughed the most harshly.

"I wonder who has such a bad temper and dares to speak so loudly at the meeting between the kings."

"It turned out to be our "Beggar Princess"! Haha, isn't this surprising at all!"

"Dear Princess, is it possible that you have lived with those smelly beggars all day and made your brain stupid? Look at the map on the wall"

"If your respected father doesn't set up a defense line on the sea, do you think the Vikings will choose to land on my rocky Northumbrian coast?

Haha, not at all!

The first goal of the Vikings must be to occupy your "Sea Watch Fortress" in the Kingdom of Mercia! The reason is simple. Only the walls of the Sea Watch Fortress are equipped with "Dragon Killing Crossbows" to defend against dragons!

The Vikings need to capture this fortress immediately to gain a foothold against the Wessex Dragon Knights, otherwise they have no means to fight against dragons at all!

Wake up, my little sister!

Defending against the Vikings is to save yourself!"

The conference hall fell into a brief silence. The originally harmonious gathering immediately fell to the freezing point. Ayler III, who was choked by Elizabeth, ruthlessly pointed out the unsolvable contradictions between the seven countries.

These seven countries are not united among themselves.

All seven countries in the English Isles live under the shadow of the Wessex Dragon Knights. Each country has means to defend against dragons.

Northumbria relies on the powerful swordsman of their partner "Izumo Trading Company", "Kent" has the holy city "Canterbury" in England, and East Anglia and East Saxon rely on the method of cultivating "Moa Knights" purchased from the Arab Empire by their lords at a high price.

Mercia, which is good at shipbuilding, relies on its own powerful craftsmanship to install powerful "Dragon Slayer Crossbows" in major fortresses!

This is a heavy anti-aircraft crossbow installed on the city wall and cannot be moved. Its biggest advantage is that after training, even women and children who are powerless can operate the crossbow and cause damage to the flying dragons in the air.

Relying on the dragon-slayer crossbows equipped on the walls of all castles, Mercia once steadily expanded its territory. Until last year, they were defeated by the enemy who appeared on the sea without any preparation.

Although they lost a lot of troops, relying on the dragon-slayer crossbows, Mercia can still pose a strong deterrent to Wessex.

This country is also the biggest stumbling block to Wessex's dominance of the seven countries.

none of them.